I Borg (episode)
The Enterprise crew discovers a lone, injured Borg and nurses him back to health. Summary :"Captain's log: Stardate 45854.2. The Enterprise is charting six star systems that make up the Argolis Cluster, an area being considered for colonization." While exploring an uncharted system, the Enterprise receives a strange Signal from a nearby moon. Believing it to be a distress call, Captain Picard sends an away team to the surface. There they find a crashed starship as well as several Borg corpses and, under the debris, an unconscious but very much alive Borg drone. When Commander Riker informs the Captain what they have found, Picard immediately prepares to bring the team back. Dr. Crusher disagrees, however, knowing the Borg will not survive if left unattended. Naturally, Worf suggests they kill it at once, but Picard agrees to bring it on board for a brief time. A holding cell is prepared and a subspace dampening field placed around it to prevent the Borg from communicating with its brethren. Picard retires to his ready room as the team and the Borg are transported aboard. Counselor Troi follows, concerned that Picard is reliving old feelings from his capture by the Borg, but Picard reassures her that he's doing just fine, and that he is perfectly comfortable with his decision. Meanwhile Beverly tends to the still-unconscious Borg. Some of his Borg implants have been damaged, but La Forge believes he'll be able to replace them without much trouble. Picard asks Geordi if he can access the root commands of the Borg with the new implants to introduce an invasive program that would act as a slow-acting virus to destroy the entire Borg Collective from within. The crew think it would be a matter of months from the introduction of the program to the destruction of the Borg. Crusher seems the only one who is unsettled by this, as it appears to be pure genocide. Picard agrees that their plan would normally be unthinkable but claims that the Borg have left them no other choice. Shortly thereafter, the Borg regains consciousness and explores its small cell. It searches for a terminal with which to access the Collective, but it can't. Beverly theorizes that the Borg hungers for energy, so Geordi prepares a power conduit on which it can feed. As he works, Beverley observes that the Borg almost seems scared to be so alone. In the meantime, Picard and Guinan fence, both physically and verbally. While Beverley disagrees with Picard on the introduction of the virus, Guinan suggests the danger of having the Borg on board at all is greater than he knows. When Picard cites humanitarian reasons, Guinan demonstrates the danger by suckering Picard into an easy defeat. Worf and Geordi enter the cell and set the Borg up with a power conduit. The Borg calls himself "Third of Five" but shows no real gratitude or humanity whatsoever, merely repeating over and over that they will all be assimilated and that "resistance is futile." Geordi and Worf finish their work and leave the Borg alone. Some time later, Geordi and Beverly prepare to give the Borg perception tests when Beverly voices a great dislike for the proceedings. The Borg is beamed into their science lab and introduced to Beverly. After a brief discussion of how and why she saved its life and a mention of the upcoming tests, the conversation turns to names. Beverly explains that she and Geordi have names, not designations, and Geordi suggests that they call the Borg "Hugh". Hugh passes a spatial relations test with flying colors, and Geordi realizes it is because of Hugh's prosthetic eye. Hugh placidly hands over the prosthetic for examination and listens to Beverly explain that humanity doesn't want to be assimilated. This puzzles Hugh because he no longer hears the "voices" of other Borg that permeate his existence under normal circumstances. Bev sympathizes with Hugh's feeling of loneliness, and Geordi tells him that after the tests are done, Hugh can be returned to the Collective, although he knows it will not be what Hugh is thinking. After talking with Hugh, Geordi has second thoughts about their plan, so he voices them to Guinan. Contary to her normally sympathetic attitude, Guinan is closed to him; she warns him of what the other Borg are capable and dismisses his soul-searching. When Geordi suggests she talk to Hugh, she refuses. "Then just listen; that is what you do best, isn't it?" Geordi replies. In the mean time, long-range sensors pick up a Borg scout ship about 31 hours away. Guinan reluctantly visits Hugh in his cell and angrily informs him that resistance is not futile. As she describes the El-Aurians' struggle against the Borg, she laments how few of her kind are left. Processing this, Hugh realizes that Guinan, like him, is lonely. For once, Guinan is speechless. On hearing that the Federation wants to learn about other species, Hugh observes that assimilation allows the Borg to learn everything about a species. He fails to understand why Humans do not wish to be assimilated, causing Geordi to talk of individuality and having a sense of self. Hugh listens to Geordi's explanations, and when Geordi describes friendship, he observes that their current relationship fits the description. Later, Geordi and Data present the invasive program to an impressed Picard. However, Geordi voices his newfound doubt about the plan, observing how un-Borglike Hugh is now. It doesn't feel right to him to use Hugh as an instrument of genocide, but Picard likens Geordi's attitude to that of 20th century scientists growing attached to laboratory animals. He tells Geordi to "unattach" himself. That evening, Guinan visits Picard and, after some small talk, expresses her own doubts about the morality of Picard's plan.. She suggests that at the very least, Picard should talk to Hugh before committing to the plan. Picard seems unmoved, but he later has Hugh beamed directly to his ready room. Hugh recognizes Picard as Locutus of Borg, so Picard plays along, attempting to bring out Hugh's full Borglike nature. However, this instead brings out Hugh's individuality. The idea of Geordi and the others being assimilated seems to frighten Hugh, who has developed feelings of his own and refuses to help assimilate them. Picard is shocked and calls a staff meeting to explore other options. The crew eventually decide that, although the Borg would more than likely erase Hugh's memory of recent events, there might be a short time in which Hugh's "singularity" would impact the entire Collective consciousness, perhaps altering the nature of the Borg forever. Their plan is shattered when Crusher asks what will happen if Hugh doesn't want to leave. Picard and Geordi let Hugh choose his fate, which confuses Hugh. Although he wants to stay with Geordi, he concludes that it would be too dangerous for his new friends. When they beam Hugh to the moon where the away team found him, Picard allows Geordi to go as well, knowing the Borg ignore individuals who pose no threat. Meanwhile, Enterprise hides in the star's chromosphere. Two Borg beam to the surface and link with Hugh. The drones then reclaim the circuits from their fallen comrades and return to their ship, but as the beam whisks them away, Hugh gives a slight but noticeable farewell nod to Geordi. Memorable Quotes "Infect it? You make sound like it's a disease." "Quite right, doctor.If all goes well...a terminal one." : - Crusher, Picard "When I look at my patient, I don't see a collective consciousness, I don't see a hive. I see a living, breathing boy who has been hurt and who needs our help." : - Crusher "You felt sorry for me. Look what it got you." : - Guinan (after defeating Picard by feigning injury; she is referring to the danger of helping the lone Borg) "You will be assimilated." "You're welcome." : - Hugh, Geordi (after Geordi helps Hugh "feed" on the power) "You will assist us in assimilating this vessel. You are Borg. You will assist us." "I will not." "What did you say?" "I will not assist you." "I?!" "Geordi must not be assimilated." "But you are Borg." "No. I am Hugh." : - Picard, Hugh "Resistance is...not futile?" : - Hugh, to Guinan Background Information *This episode was said to be "Best of Both Worlds" writer Michael Piller's favorite of the season, though it was written by René Echevarria. *Costume designer Bob Blackman and make-up effects artist Michael Westmore once again honed the Borg make-up, adding a hologram in Hugh's eyepiece that would become common in later Borg designs. *Hugh's designation, "Third of Five," is different from other Borg names (such as Seven of Nine) in that he uses the ordinal rather than the cardinal number. *When he first wakes up in the laboratory, Third of Five asks, "Do I have a name?" even though he was supposed to be in the "collective" mindset at that point. *The Argolis Cluster would later be visited by the Enterprise in "True Q" and the ''Defiant'' in DS9's season 6 episode "Behind the Lines". *While the audience was not given a good glimpse of the ship itself, the Borg scoutship made its first and presumably only appereance in this episode, though it's possible that the Borg probe and some Borg spheres could be considered scoutships. *Hugh would go on to appear once more in season 6's "Descent" and "Descent, Part II". *"I, Borg" was included in the 2006 DVD box set Star Trek: Fan Collective - Borg. Links and References Guest Stars * Jonathan Del Arco as Third of Five/Hugh * Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan References COMMA-SEPARATED LIST OF ITEMS REFERENCED IN EPISODE (BUT NOT YET MENTIONED IN SUMMARY OR CHARACTERS) Category:TNG episodes de:Ich bin Hugh nl:I, Borg